Hearing aid device

ABSTRACT

A hearing aid device comprising an ear insert or ear mold which has a hole formed therethrough communicating with the channel in the wearer&#39;&#39;s ear. A precision metal fitting or adapter is made of tubular material and is installed in the outer end of said hole by heating the fitting or adapter and sweating it into said hole thereby eliminating the use of plastic tubing in the ear mold and the use of cements or adhesives. A plastic tube leading to the conventional hearing aid amplifier is attached to this fitting. In one embodiment of this invention the fitting or adapter is provided with a vented, threaded arm with means to open or close the vents thereof to facilitate tuning of the hearing aid channel and release air pressure therefrom.

United States Patent [1 1 Milani HEARING AID DEVICE Humbert Milani, 1209 Willow St., San Jose, Calif. 95125 22 Filed: July 26, 1972 21 App1.No.: 275,324

[76] Inventor:

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Dunn 181/23 Macken Primary Examiner-Ralph D. Blakeslee Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Allen & Chromy Mar. 26, 1974 [5 7] ABSTRACT A hearing aid device comprising an ear insert or ear mold which has a hole formed therethrough communieating with the channel in the wearers ear. A precision metal fitting or adapter is made of tubular material and is installed in the outer end of said hole by heating the fitting or adapter and sweating it into said hole thereby eliminating the use of plastic tubing in the ear mold and the use of cements or adhesives. A plastic tube leading to the conventional hearing aid amplifier is attached to this fitting. In one embodiment of this invention the fitting or adapter is provided with a vented, threaded arm with means to open or close the vents thereof to facilitate tuning of the hearing aid channel and release air pressure therefrom.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures HEARING AID DEVICE DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to hearing aids in general. More particularly, this invention relates to ear mold adapters and method of assembly.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved method of assembling an adapter with the ear mold of a hearing aid device whereby the conventional amplifier may be easily connected to the ear mold.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hearing aid ear mold with a metal adapter that is sweated into the hole through the ear mold to be firmly gripped therein without use of adhesives and cements.

Other and further objects of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which it relates from the following specification, claims and drawing.

In accordance with this invention I provide an hearing aid ear mold with a precision metal adapter for connecting the conventional hearing aid amplifier thereto. The metal adapter is of tubular material and it may be either in the shape of a T or an L. In either case, the fitting or adapter is provided with a knurled outer surface on the outside of the portion that is to be sweated into the hole provided through the ear mold. The sweating of this part of the adapter into the ear mold is accomplished by heating the adapter to a temperature such that when this part is inserted into the hole of the ear mold the heat softens the plastic contacting it. Thus, when the fitting is allowed to cool the knurled surface is firmly gripped by the plastic of the ear mold. This eliminates the necessity of drilling a larger hole in the ear mold for installing the conventional tubing from the hearing aid amplifier and it also eliminates the necessity of using adhesives or cements for fastening the tubing into the ear mold. The T-shaped adapter is provided with an internally threaded venting arm with one or more vents which are either opened or closed by manipulating a threaded member provided thereto. Thus, by manipulating this threaded member the user of the hearing aid can adjust the low frequency response thereof and also reduce the noise transmitted into his ear. The user can also open the vent into the ear mold and thus cool off the inner auditory canal as well as eliminate excessive air pressure therein.

Further details and features of this invention will be set forth in the following specification, claims and drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view partially broken away showing an ear mold with a T-shaped fitting attached thereto;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the T-shaped fitting showing a portion of the plastic ear mold which in this case is soft plastic provided with a sleeve of hard plastic for receiving the knurled surface portion of the fitting;

FIG. 3 is a view of a plastic ear mold partially broken away to show one arm of an L-shaped fitting sweated therein;

FIG. 4 is a view of a pair of pliers provided with an electrical heater in one of the jaws thereof for heating the fitting or adapter gripped between the jaws thereof in preparation for inserting the knurled surface of the fitting or adapter into the plastic ear mold; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4 showing the fitting or adapter positioned in a recess formed in one of the jaws while said fitting or adapter is being heated and inserted into the plastic ear mold.

Referring to the drawing in detail, reference numeral 10 designates an ear insert made of thermoplastic material which may be either a soft plastic or a hard plastic as referred to in the plastics trade. This ear insert is provided with a tapered portion 11 that fits into the outer end of the auditory canal of an ear of the wearer. A hole 12 is provided through the ear insert and this hole communicates with the wearers auditory canal. Either a T-shaped fitting 13 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 or an L-shaped fitting 14 as shown in FIG. 3 can be provided to the ear insert for connecting the hole 12 through the insert to the plastic tube 15 which leads to the hearing aid amplifier of conventional construction. The adapters are provided with ring-shaped flanges 15a and 15b for retaining the tube 15 thereon.

The fittings l3 and 14 can be made of suitable metallic material such as stainless steel, brass or of a heat resistant material such as phenol condensation products and the like. These fittings are provided with portions 13a and 14a, respectively, which are knurled or otherwise roughened on the outside thereof. The knurled surface is firmly gripped by the plastic after the fitting is heated and inserted into the outer end portion of the hole 12 in the ear mold. Prior to inserting these fittings into the plastic ear mold the fitting is heated so that when it is inserted into the hole 12 the plastic is softened and conforms to the knurled surface of the fitting. After the fitting cools the knurled portion thereof is firmly gripped in the plastic. When the ear mold 10 is of hard plastic the fitting is inserted directly into the outer end of the hole 12 after being heated and the hard plastic firmly grips the knurled surface of the fitting after cooling. However, when the ear mold 10 is of the soft plastic type a short sleeve 16 of hard plastic is first inserted into the outer end of the hole through the ear mold as shown in FIG. 2. The fitting 13 is then heated just enough to soften the sleeve 16 when the knurled part 13a is inserted into this sleeve. After the fitting 13 has cooled the knurled surface 13a thereof and the sleeve and soft plastic 10 will be firmly bonded together.

Various ways of heating the fitting 13 or 14 may be employed and I have shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 a special type of pliers provided for this purpose. The pliers 17 are of conventional construction except that one of the jaws 17a is provided with a cavity with ceramic material 17b and electrically heated element positioned therein. The heater element of resistance material is connected to the electric cord 18 which is provided with a conventional plug (not shown) to be inserted into the wall receptacle of the usual electric wiring whereby the heater 170 may be supplied with electric current. The jaw 17a is also provided with recess 19 that is of such configuration as to receive either the fitting 13 or the fitting 14. When the jaw 17a is heated by the electric current passing through the heating element 17c some of the heat will, of course, be transmitted to the fitting 13 so that the knurled part 13a thereof will also be heated. When the fitting is heated to the desired temperature the knurled part 13a thereof is inserted into the plastic 10 as shownin FIG. 5 and the hole 12 through the plastic communicates with the hole through the fitting.

The T-shaped fitting 13 is provided with an arm 20 that is internally threaded to receive the threaded member 21 which is used to open or close the venting and tuning holes 22. Thus, by turning the member 21 the hearing aid wearer may release air pressure from the auditory canal. He may also open the holes 22 to reduce the volume of the low sound frequencies.

While I have shown and described a preferred form of the invention, it will be apparent that the invention is capable of variation and modification from the form shown so that the scope thereof should be limited only by the proper scope of the claims appended hereto.

What I claim is:

l. The method of making a hearing aid device comprising the steps of providing an ear insert of thermoplastic material, forming a hole through said insert which is adapted to communicate with the auditory canal of the ear of the wearer thereof, providing a tubular connection to said hole, roughening a portion of the outside of said tubular connection, heating said roughened portion and while it is hot inserting it into the outer end of said hole to seal it thereto and attaching a tube to said tubular connection for transmitting sound from the output of the hearing aid amplifier thereto.

2. In a hearing aid, the combination of an ear insert of thermo-plastic material, said ear insert having a hole therethrough opening into the auditory canal of the ear when said insert is positioned in the wearers ear, a tubular member, one end portion of said tubular member having a knurled outer surface, said knurled outer surface of said tubular member being inserted into the outer end portion of said hole when said member is at a temperature such that said knurled surface is heat sealed in said hole and the hole through said tubular member communicates with said hole through said plastic insert and a tube attached to the outer end portion of said tubular member connecting it to a hearing aid amplifier.

3. In a hearing aid, the combination as set forth in claim 2, further characterized in that said tubular memher is provided with vent means and a member threaded into said tubular member to at least partially open or close said vent means to control the range of sound frequencies transmitted to the wearers ear and also to control the air pressure in the wearers ear. 

1. The method of making a hearing aid device comprising the steps of providing an ear insert of thermoplastic material, forming a hole through said insert which is adapted to communicate with the auditory canal of the ear of the wearer thereof, providing a tubular connection to said hole, roughening a portion of the outside of said tubular connection, heating said roughened portion and while it is hot inserting it into the outer end of said hole to seal it thereto and attaching a tube to said tubular connection for transmitting sound from the output of the hearing aid amplifier thereto.
 2. In a hearing aid, the combination of an ear insert of thermo-plastic material, said ear insert having a hole therethrough opening into the auditory canal of the ear when said insert is positioned in the wearer''s ear, a tubular member, one end portion of said tubular member having a knurled outer surface, said knurled outer surface of said tubular member being inserted into the outer end portion of said hole when said member is at a temperature such that said knurled surface is heat sealed in said hole and the hole through said tubular member communicates with said hole through said plastic insert and a tube attached to the outer end portion of said tubular member connecting it to a hearing aid amplifier.
 3. In a hearing aid, the combination as set forth in claim 2, further characterized in that said tubular member is provided with vent means and a member threaded into said tubular member to at least partially open or close said vent means to control the range of sound frequencies transmitted to the wearer''s ear and also to control the air pressure in the wearer''s ear. 